Testimonials
Imagine Ballet's Dance With Us event fun and educational
This spring, Imagine Ballet was awarded a grant for Dance With Us, a pilot program to introduce 100 children, ages 7 and up, to the benefits of dance and physical activity.
Held at Beach Park, the half-day event included warm-up and stretching, technique instruction, and small and whole group choreography, before finishing up with a “Flash Mob” style performance.
From these photos, it looks like the event was a lot of fun!
Tehachapi (T-POPS) Orchestra celebrates new timpani
Enclosed are pictures of our new timpani purchased with your grant given to our orchestra last May and received mid-October. We currently have four people using these instruments – two high school students, a retired Shell Oil engineer (pictured), and a percussion coordinator who has high school and college percussion experience.
The timpani were first used in our 2011 Christmas Concert at Bear Valley Springs, sponsored by the Bear Valley Cultural Association. During this concert, your foundation was recognized as granting us the funds to purchase the timpani. We look forward to many future concerts utilizing the set for beginning The Star Spangled Banner and the cannons in The 1812 Overture, just to mention two outstanding uses of these instruments.
Our next concert will be in May to raise funds to help pay some of the costs of the utilities at Grace Fellowship Church, where we rehearse each Monday evening. We currently have from 30 to 35 members and are under the direction of Mr. Lee Pophal, Band and Orchestra Director at Highland High School.
We sincerely appreciate your giving us the funds to make such an outstanding instrumental purchase and look forward to many rehearsals and concerts using these fine timpani. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Marcia M. Whitten, Treasurer, T-POPS
Rotary and Kiwanis Clubs of Tehachapi hand out personalized books to students
Marian B. Stephens, Ed.D., Kiwanis Literacy Chair, Rotary Literacy Chair
• The children were very appreciative of receiving books which were personalized for them. I was sitting in the office of Cummings Valley School, waiting for the morning class to be over and the afternoon class to begin, and one of the recipients came through the office with his mother. "Look, Mom," he exclaimed, "there's the book man!"
-Dick Best
• My experience with giving out the personalized books to the Kindergartner class was awesome! The children sat together on the floor and watched us as we called out their names to come up and receive their books. They had big smiles on their faces as they shook our hands and thanked us for their book. They could hardly wait to get back to their seat to open their book. They couldn't believe their names and family names were in the story.
-Lorraine Berry
• It was an absolute pleasure to watch the joy in the kindergartener's eyes when I handed them their very own personalized book with their name, their teacher's name and school name in it. I have always felt when something is personalized it means so much more to the person receiving it.
-Sue Wonacott
Kids and Critters Day Camp
The grant money awarded to the Bakersfield SPCA allowed some 8 - 11 year old kids to get camperships to attend the first years' Kids and Critters Day Camp at the Bakersfield SPCA. Many of the Kids would not have been able to attend otherwise. A week long Day camp offered a basic introduction to Responsible Pet Ownership for Kids, 8 - 11 years of age. They enjoyed many daily activities including feeding the SPCA shelter animals, Socializing shelter dogs, Tips on grooming, first aid for pets and veterinary services. Attached are 3 photos showing the kids getting the food bowls ready to do a Daily feeding, picking out their companion dog for the week and wearing their SPCA Day Camp T-Shirt along with their hand crafted marionette dog puppets. Four weekly sessions were offered this inaugural year with high hopes for more next year.
SPCA Public Relations Coordinator
;)
;)
;)
Local Youth Center
The Community Action Partnership of Kern-Shafter Youth Center was the proud recipient of a grant award from The Bakersfield Californian Foundation. The funding provided supported the purchase of new computer equipment for the facility's computer lab, which included six computers, a printer, a projector and pull down screen, all of which will assist the program in providing enhanced tutoring sessions for youth, home work assistance and computer literacy classes for youth and adults. The Bakersfield Californian Foundation demonstrates the true meaning of giving and thanks to their generosity the enhanced computer lab will increase program participant's computer skills and confidence, will elevate educational attainment and will encourage success.
Program Manager
Community Action Partnership of Kern
Shafter Youth Center
Panorama Vista Preserve
The grant funds recently awarded to the Kern River Corridor Endowment for use at the Panorama Vista Preserve are being used to promote an increased interest in the out of doors for our nature deprived children who are the future stewards of our land. This will be accomplished through encouraging schools and youth organizations to promote activities on the preserve for school age children through field trips, distributing outreach brochures and allowing classroom presentations on the Preserve, its history and the importance of protecting our animal and plant habitats. Educational interpretative signs will be made to show the youth the plants, and animals on the preserve as well as the geology of the Kern River and its importance to Bakersfield and the history of the Preserve and the immediate area.
President of the Kern River Corridor Endowment
;)
;)
;)
;)